Hiking trails around Haines have been used recreationally for decades. But now, the legality of their use has been called into question.
On Monday, Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office southeast area lands manager David Griffin sent an email to the Haines parks and recreation advisory committee, warning that three trails in the Haines area were “in trespass” on trust land.
“There’s three trails that cross through trust land, and none of them have any type of authorization in place,” Griffin wrote.
The Alaska Mental Health Trust owns 6,500 surface acres in the Haines area. The Haines parcels were among one million acres transferred to the Trust under the 1956 Mental Health Enabling Act, passed when Alaska was still a territory.
The Mount Ripinsky trail, Mount Riley trail, and the 7 Mile Saddle trail all cross parcels of land owned by the trust. Day use by the public is allowed under trust land-use rules, but overnight camping and commercial use is not allowed without permits or easements.
“I do not have any permits from any commercial operators in Haines,” Griffin told the CVN.
Under trust land-use rules, each commercial operator would need to get a permit, said Mental Health Trust South Central land manager Jeff Green. Generally, he said, these permits start at $3,000 a year.
Hiking trails on Mt. Riley and 7-Mile Saddle date back to the 1970s, said longtime Haines hiker Paul Swift. But the Mt. Ripinsky trail predates the Mental Health Enabling Act.
“It was an army trail put in in 1906,” Swift said, adding that some area trails had been used by the Tlingit long before white settlers arrived.
Griffin said he sent the email after seeing a trail map on a Haines Borough website.
“It appears that the Haines Borough is advertising and marketing these trails,” he said. “Those trails, where they cross that portion of trust land, need to have an authorization in place.”
In a document sent to the committee, Griffin identified a number of companies who used the trails for commercial purposes, including Alaska Mountain Guides and Alaska Nature Tours.
Sean Gaffney, the owner of Alaska Mountain Guides, said he wasn’t able to comment on the trust’s email, but said “we’re widely permitted with a variety of different agencies throughout the region.”
“There’s been a history of use on that land way, way before the state gave that land to the Mental Health Trust,” said Dan Egolf, who owns Alaska Nature Tours.
Egolf said he wasn’t sure that Nature Tours’ use of the trails violated trust rules, but “it’s going to be hard for (the) Mental Health Trust to stop anybody,” he said. “It would probably end up in court if that’s what they want to do.”
Griffin said he raised the issue with former Haines Borough planner Holly Smith two years ago, but that nothing came of it.
In his email, Griffin recommended that the borough apply for an easement agreement, which would allow overnight use of the trails by the public and releases the trust from liability. But such an agreement, he said, would cost the borough, and would not cover commercial operators. Trust officials declined to provide an estimate for how much that could cost, saying easement agreements were usually made on a case by case basis.
At the Aug. 26 meeting, parks and recreation committee members voted to advise the borough assembly to look into an easement agreement. A second motion recommended that the borough ask for legal advice relative to easements and land use permits.
Griffin said that, if permits were not acquired, commercial operators like Alaska Nature Tours and Alaska Mountain Guides could be barred from using the agency’s property.
“If they refuse to get an authorization then they would not be allowed on the Trust land,” Griffin said.
Parks and recreation committee member George Figdor said Aug. 26 that land use rights were poorly defined.
“This trespass has been going on,” said Figdor. “We may have a totally legal right to be doing that.”